For the past two years, my children have done “family tree”
projects as a part of their 4-H exhibits. And while we had a reasonably good
time working on the project, I realized there were other ways to present information
besides creating a family tree. Frankly, a “family tree” is still
a “family tree,” even if the letters are fancy and pictures are
added. Virtually every other child’s project was some close variant of
a pedigree chart.

While I’m not opposed to the use of family trees to visualize relationships
and to make a display of one’s heritage, I think that there might be other
kinds of approaches that are just as interesting and informative. This week
we will look at some other ways children can present family history. Some of
these ways can be used by adults as well--particularly at family reunions.

CHARTING THE IMMIGRANTS

A significant number of my children’s ancestors were post-1850 immigrants.
From 1847 to 1883, thirty-five of their ancestors made the voyage from Europe
to the United States. We have been fortunate enough to find the name of the
ship and date and place of landing for approximately three-fourths of these
ancestors. There are several ways we could display that information:

Create a chronology showing all of the dates of known immigration.

Choose several ancestors and obtain maps showing their village of origin
and pictures of the ship, where possible.

Pick one ancestral family and learn what we can about their trip, from their
village of origin to their final destination. From where did the ship sail?
Where did the ship land? What can we find out about the kind of ship on which
the ancestor sailed? Can we find a picture of the exact ship or a similar one?
How did the immigrant likely get from where they originally landed to where
they finally settled?

Determine what things an immigrant would likely have taken on their voyage.

Create a pie chart showing as each slice your children’s different
ethnic background. Mine have a large slice listed as “unknown ethnic background.”
This can build on math skills as well.

FINDING THEM IN ONE CENSUS

Another project is to locate all my children’s great-grandparents in
1930. Since I’ve already located these entries myself, I’ll have
the child “re-find” the family in the 1930 census with a little
direction. After all, what good is it if I just hand them copies?

Ancestry’s online indexes to the 1930 census will greatly facilitate
this process and we won’t even have to leave our home to complete this
project. While helping my daughter search, I will try to avoid giving her an
hour-long lecture on spelling, Soundex, and other census pitfalls. I will only
tell her what she needs to know in order to find the individuals I have already
found. Finding eight people, especially if I have already located them myself,
should not be too problematic.

We will print out a nice copy of at least part of the 1930 census image for
each of these eight great-grandparents to use on our display.

We will mount these printouts on a poster board. Additional items on the display
could include:

A map showing where all these people were living in 1930 (in our case,
we only need the northern half of Illinois)

A map showing the birthplace of all these people and their parents (in our
case we need from New York State to Missouri)

A chart showing the great-grandparents’ ages in 1930 (in my case they
ranged from 6 to 26)

A listing of the occupations of the individuals located, if applicable (in
our cases, the great-grandparents and their father’s occupations included
several farmers; a bus driver; a laborer; a city sewer worker for the City of
DuPage, Illinois; a setter of pins in a bowling alley; and a drug store clerk)

MAKE A MAP

Genealogists love maps and given their visual nature, they may appeal to a
child more than a display that is largely text. To prevent being overwhelmed,
there are several different ways we could create a presentation using a map:

Map the places of birth of all ancestors up to the great-great-grandparents.
Including the child, this would total thirty-one places of birth and could be
another way to partially show where the family originated. In our case, the
places of birth would only include five states. If we went back to the great-great-great-grandparents,
we would have several states and a handful of European countries as well.

Map the places in which one ancestor lived during his or her lifetime. Many
genealogists also use this technique, which can be an interesting way to view
an ancestor’s life.

Map the places where an ancestor’s children or grandchildren settled.
This can be a useful way to see how the family has spread out over a few generations.

Map the places where the children’s ancestors through a specified
number of generations are buried.

Make a small map of one cemetery showing where a specified number of family
members are buried. A map of the entire cemetery may be too large of an undertaking,
but one showing just family members should be more manageable. This is something
the genealogist should be doing anyway.

NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS

For those who really want to use a family tree, why not include an obituary
of each ancestor instead of a picture? If marriage announcements or notices
can be found, considering placing those between the ancestor’s names on
the tree as a way of connecting the two individuals together. This approach
is slightly different from one that is traditionally used. And for the adult
genealogist in the family, it might motivate them to locate some items they
have overlooked in their research.

PICTURES OF TOMBSTONES

Another variant on the family tree theme would be to use pictures of tombstones
instead of actual ancestral pictures. Children with photography projects could
combine their work on both projects and learn about taking photographs in different
light, at different angles, etc.

OCCUPATIONS

Instead of using pictures on a family tree chart, find magazine or other pictures
to represent the occupation of each ancestor and place these next to the ancestor’s
name.

SIGNATURES

Another variant on the family tree approach is to use ancestral signatures
instead of pictures. Place the signatures next the individual’s name on
the chart in place of pictures. Another interesting method of presentation is
to display as many signatures of relatives with the same surname as possible,
showing the handwriting variations over the years. This can be especially dramatic
if some signatures are several centuries old or are from ancestors who learned
to write in a formal script in a non-English language.

We have only scratched the surface. Hopefully we have given those who have
to create a presentation some ideas to get them started on their project. There’s
more your child can do to “present” their family tree than simply
filling out a pedigree chart with names. Being creative with the presentation
(not with the data) may make the project more interesting for the child and
for you. Working with your child (or grandchild, niece, nephew, etc.) will be
a good experience and hopefully both of you will learn something during the
process.

Michael John Neill, is the Course I Coordinator at the Genealogical Institute
of Mid America (GIMA) held annually in Springfield, Illinois, and is also on the
faculty of Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg, Illinois. Michael is the Web columnist
for the FGS FORUM and is on the editorial board of the Illinois State Genealogical
Society Quarterly. He conducts seminars and lectures on a wide variety of genealogical
and computer topics and contributes to several genealogical publications, including
Ancestry and Genealogical Computing. You can e-mail him at mailto:mjnrootdig@myfamily.com
or visit his website at http://www.rootdig.com/, but he regrets that he is unable
to assist with personal research.